Five artists who are indigenous

Meet five artists who are part of different indigenous ethnicities in Brazil

Jaider Esbell

Jaider Esbell is a visual artist, writer and cultural producer. He was born in Normandia, in Roraima, in what is now the Raposa – Serra do Sol Indigenous Land. He is part of the Makuxi ethnic group. He has always developed activities linked to writing and drawing. His most notable works use the acrylic on canvas technique. They include themes such as ancestry, memory, global politics, the local being, visual shamanism and power, among others.

Arissana Pataxó

Arissana Pataxó Braz is a visual artist and art educator. She works with different techniques, from painting to objects, and is also a teacher. Born in Porto Seguro, Bahia, she is part of the Pataxó indigenous community. In her work, she develops themes where she seeks to provide people with knowledge about the indigenous issue in Brazil.

Denilson Baniwa
Denilson Baniwa is a visual artist born in the Rio Negro region, in Amazonas, in lands of the Baniwa ethnic group. He is a multidisciplinary artist, working with different techniques, including engravings, paintings, drawings, performances, among others. He currently lives and works in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. Denilson was the winner of the PIPA Online 2019 award.

Ibã Huni Kuin
Ibã huni Kuin, or Isaías Sales, is an artist who works mainly with the acrylic technique on canvas. Born in Tarauacá, Acre, where he lives and works to this day, he is part of the Huni Kuin indigenous people. In 2013, he founded the Huni Kuin Artists Movement (MAHKU), a collective of 12 ethnic visual artists. Ibã is a Txana, master of songs in the tradition of his people.

Edgar Kanaykõ
The photographer belongs to the Xakriabá State indigenous people, from Minas Gerais. He has a master's degree in Anthropology from UFMG and works freely in the field of Ethnophotography: “a means of recording aspects of culture – the life of a people”. He uses photography as a fighting tool, revealing the reality of indigenous peoples to the world.